LOW COST NANOCOMPOSITE CuInS2/TiO2 SOLAR CELLS

摘要

A serious barrier for large-scale introduction of solar energy is the high price of silicon-based photovoltaic (PV)solar cells. A substantial price reduction is required before PV technology can compete on the energy market. Newtechnologies for simpler deposition methods, better materials, and smart solar cell designs are required and call for new concepts and an innovative approach. In recent years, a challenging technology based on ternary compound semiconductors has been advanced [1-4]. Within the ternary compound family, CuInS2 is considered a promising candidate, because of its high absorption coefficient and its direct bandgap of 1.55 eV [5], which is well matched to the solar spectrum. The present study is focused on low-cost preparation of thin film TiO2|CuInS2 nanocomposite 3D solar cells (Figure 1). With the aid of a simple spray deposition method, we have been able to obtain 3D solar cells, with a remarkable energy conversion efficiency of 5%. The new 3D solar cell design has the potential to breakdown the price barrier and to open up new productiontechnologies for low-cost PV solar cells.